The Atlantic Canada Airports Association says the devastating realities of the COVID-19 pandemic are hitting home, with staggering losses across the board.

The group that speaks for most airports in the region says travel is down 92 per cent since April—a drop of 3.7-million passengers over last year. That puts the airports on track for a loss of 5.5-million passengers for the year and estimated losses of $76-million.

The airport association says they’ve pretty much hit rock bottom in terms of revenue and now that bottom is falling out as well, adding there appears to be no end in sight to the losses.

They also note that since airports are an essential service, they have to continue operating for things like medivacs, cargo, and essential workers. However, they say they may not be able to do that without a specific support program for airports from the federal government.

Failing that, they say they’ll have to cut more services to find ways to limp to the starting line of recovery, whenever that is.